Officially appointed on Monday, presented to the press on Tuesday, Jorge Sampaoli is making his mark with his new club during this international break. The Argentinian led his second training session this Thursday, open to the press for a quarter of an hour.
Stade Rennais tracksuit, warm parka and hat on his head, Jorge Sampaoli was well covered despite a nice sun to withstand the 7 degrees felt on the pitches of the Piverdière training center this Thursday morning. The Argentinian is more used to the heat, having never trained further north than Marseille in his career. Under the eyes of sports director Frederic Massara at the edge of the field, it was a small Rennes group who played bullfights, control exercises and short passes.
Instructions in Spanish and French
Eleven players are currently in the selection, including many supposed executives (Seidu, Ostigard, Wooh, Gronbaek, Kamara, Gouiri, Kalimuendo, etc.). The Rennes coach will therefore have to wait until the middle of next week to really establish “the diagnosis on the state of the team” as he said on Tuesday at a press conference. In the meantime, the players present including Blas, Truffert, Assignon, Santamaria, Hateboer, Matusiwa and Jota were able to talk with their new strong man and discover his method and those of his three assistants Diogo Meschine, Pablo and Marco Fernandez who talk to them French unlike the more limited Sampaoli even if he understands the language.
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During the first exercises, Sampaoli still gave voice, especially during the bullfights. “Tac, toc, toc”, to ask for rhythm. “Good, good”, in Spanish to encourage his players. “Again, stronger”, this time in French. A little further away, the goalkeepers also trained under the leadership of Olivier Sorin with Steve Mandanda back. The Rennes captain was absent on Wednesday still suffering from the crutch received against Toulouse which forced him to come out at half-time.
The Mandanda-Sampaoli reunion will obviously be scrutinized after their collaboration in Marseille where the Argentinian made the strong choice to downgrade his goalkeeper in favor of Pau Lopez. Will he make the same choice for the benefit of Gauthier Gallon? “I have a very good relationship with Steve. A clear, direct and frank relationship. He will contribute to helping us get out of this pitfall,” he only declared during his presentation. The Stade Rennais version of Jorge Sampaoli still has 10 days ahead of him to prepare for his first outing with a difficult trip to Lille. There could be many changes. Starting from scratch with a fresh eye to find play and fun again, that’s what the Breton club is hoping for
